Strawberries are generally packed as loose berries into baskets, and this packaging form is well known to consumers. Such berries typically packed with little or no stem remaining on the berry. This removal of the stem from the berry is typically conducted by pickers in the field, although sometimes performed by the berry packers.
In addition to the common form of strawberries previously discussed, there exists a premium market for gourmet berries, often used by confectioners. These berries are characterized by having a substantially longer section of stem attached to the berry as it is sold to the user, and are often significantly larger and may be more perfect than berries sold either to the home consumer or to berry processors. The purpose of the elongate stem left attached to the berry is to provide both an improved appearance, and to serve as a handle. The stem in its use as a handle is often employed for dipping the berries into a confection material, for instance chocolate or the like.
A problem exists for the packers of such premium long-stemmed berries in that existing packaging methodologies, for instance the simple use of berry baskets, allow the relatively tough, woody stems to remain in contact with the relatively soft, pulpy flesh of the fruit itself during both packing and transit. This contact between the stems and the flesh often leads to unacceptable levels of fruit damage and ultimately product rejection by the consumer. What is needed is a methodology which isolates the relatively tough, woody stems of berries, especially strawberries, from the relatively soft, pulpy flesh thereof during packing and transit. The methodology should be capable of implementation with a variety of currently existing packaging products. Optimally, the methodology, and the apparatus which practices the methodology, should arrange the berries in an appealing configuration for the end consumer. Additionally, the methodology should be efficient in the use of package volume thereby retaining efficiencies of shipping.